Worrying echoes of the past

Sirens in many Chinese cities wailed long and loud on Tuesday to mark the 81st anniversary of the Manchurian Incident.

On Sept 18, 1931, Japanese army officers dynamited a section of railroad Japan had leased from China near Mukden (now Shenyang) in northeastern China. Japan accused Chinese agent provocateurs of the act and used it as the pretext for the invasion of Northeast China. A puppet state Manchukuo was established the following year.

Japan's occupation started with the Northeast, but its aggressive extending of Japan's boundaries by military force soon encompassed other parts of the Chinese mainland.